Rain of terror
Knappe in horror 88 as stars are blown off course
ALEXANDER KNAPPE must have felt like sticking pins in an effigy of Old Tom Morris after the Old Course turned into golfing hell for the German.
In a tale of two halves, Knappe carded 16-over par on the back nine at St Andrews yet managed to complete the front nine in level par after the Dunhill Links Championship fell foul of the weather yesterday.
He started at the 14th with a par quickly followed by a doublebogey six, a quintuple-bogey nine and a quadruple-bogey eight to shed a staggering 11 shots in just three horror holes.
Knappe righted the ship – albeit temporarily – with five pars and a birdie before following a bogey with four more pars.
But there was no respite for the 33-year-old when he finished with back-to-back double-bogeys and a bogey to sign for an 88.
Knappe wasn’t the only victim after torrential rain and 45 mph winds turned the £4.5million tournament into a lottery.
So much so only three players in the 168-strong field managed to break 70 while 35 failed to better 80.
English duo Richard Mansell and Alex Fitzpatrick posted 68 and 69 at St Andrews and Kingsbarns as Sweden’s Alex Noren matched Fitz’s effort at the same venue.
And Mansell takes a two-shot lead into the weekend on 10 under, two ahead of Noren, after the round of his life.
He said: “It’s certainly up there. I can’t feel anything in my body right now. It was gritty stuff.
“I was just trying to make contact with the ball and trying to keep it out of the bunkers and just get up-and-down.
“It was about staying focused, and my caddie did a great job of trying to keep as much of the equipment dry as he could the last seven, eight holes.
“It was just about holding on to the club and trying to warm up your hands when you could.”
Noren added: “You’ve just got to trust that you can actually play golf because you can’t feel your hands. You can’t do anything other than keep the ball low and not try to be a hero.
“It was very tough but I felt like that guy in Caddyshack.”
Bob MacIntyre laughed his way to a 70 at Kingsbarns to emerge as the leading Scot on a day when it didn’t even feel like he was playing golf.
The Oban ace took over fifth spot on six under, four off the lead, after forming a comedy double-act with two-time winner Tyrrell Hatton. MacIntyre said: “It got to a point where it wasn’t even golf.
“It was brutal, probably the hardest conditions I’ve ever played in. I went through about 12 gloves on the last six and three towels. My sister is coming through with two new pairs of golf shoes.
“Attitude got you through and I was playing with somebody I get on really well with in Tyrrell, and we had a laugh.
“I’m soaked through and I’ve got water in my shoes. But I had to laugh, which is the way I play my best golf, with a smile on my face.”